Time to break out the tissues, space fans.

TODAY, THE EUROPEAN Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft will engage its thrusters for one final maneuver: a suicidal plunge toward the comet it has been orbiting for two years and chasing for a decade. After Rosetta collides with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, its systems will go dark.

Source: An Ode to the Rosetta Spacecraft As It Plummets To Its Death

Archaeologists at Turkey’s neolithic site of Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia have unearthed a “unique” complete female figurine, The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said on Tuesday.

The statuette, measuring 17 centimeters (6.7 inches) long and weighing one kilogram (2.2 pounds), is considered unique due to its intact form and fine craftsmanship; it dates back to about 5500-8000 BC, a statement said.

The figurine, which is made of marmoreal stone and considered to be part of a ritual, was discovered by the international team of archaeologists working on site led by Professor Ian Hodder, anthropologist at Stanford University in the U.S

Source: Neolithic figurine, over 7,000 years old, unearthed at Turkey’s Çatalhöyük

Commercial v. noncommercial use of CC licenses. Where’s the line of demarcation?

Source: Creative Commons licenses under scrutiny—what does “noncommercial” mean?

American multinational General Motors, or GM, has committed to generating or sourcing 100% of the electricity for its operations across 59 countries from 100% renewable energy by 2050. GM made the …

Source: General Motors Commits To 100% Renewable Energy By 2050

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-15/tesla-wins-utility-contract-to-supply-grid-scale-battery-storage-after-porter-ranch-gas-leak?utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-facebook-business

Tesla just won a bid to supply grid-scale power in Southern California to help prevent electricity shortages following the biggest natural gas leak in U.S. history. The Powerpacks, worth tens of millions of dollars, will be operational in record time—by the end of this year.

Microsoft topped the list of organizations with the most open source contributors on GitHub this year, beating out the likes of Facebook and Google.

Source: Microsoft has more open source contributors than Google

Now’s the time to get into hacking as Google is launching its own contest that will award $300,000 in prizes to anyone who can hack Nexus 6P and 5X.

Source: Google is giving you $200,000 to hack the Nexus 6P and 5X

Analysts at Bank of America have reportedly suggested there is a 20 to 50 per cent chance our world is a Matrix-style virtual reality and everything we experience is just a simulation.  The report, which was issued to clients, also implies even if our world was an illusion, we would never know about it. Bank of America Merrill Lynch backed up the claims by citing comments from leading philosophers, scientists and other thinkers.

Source: Bank of America analysts think there’s a 50 per cent chance we live in The Matrix

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/02/the-origin-of-liberalism/283780/

When Adam Smith and a group of fellow Scots first used the word in a political sense, it meant something very different than it does today.

A video that might have taken months to see the light of day in 2012 dominated the national conversation within a matter of hours.

Source: The Making of Hillary Clinton’s Most Unwanted Viral Video